Defence forces education vital for national development – President

Harare (New Ziana) – Investment by government in the education and training of the Defence Forces has far reaching benefits not just for Zimbabwe, but for the region, continent and beyond, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Wednesday.

He was speaking at the graduation ceremony of participants in Joint Command and Staff Course 36 at the Zimbabwe Staff College, which drew students from countries such as Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia and Nigeria.

He said the involvement of forces from other countries helped to ‘undoubtedly’ enhance collective regional security and contribute to the silencing of guns on the African continent.

President Mnangagwa said the fact that the course continued to be constituted by officers from all national security agencies, goes a long way towards promoting a holistic and complementary approach to defence and security issues.

“Similarly, the growing trans-national nature of armed conflicts in Africa and inter-nationalisation of ‘intra-state conflicts’ bring to the fore the need to share lessons with regards peace building, conflict prevention, management and resolution in our sub-region and the continent as a whole,” he said.

“The emerging intricacies related to the impact of natural resource conflicts on Africa’s peace and security; together with climate change, organised crime, technological developments and natural disasters, among other factors, demand that officers be thoroughly equipped to understand contemporary peace and security challenges, beyond the military domain,” said President Mnangagwa.

He said it is noteworthy that Joint Command and Staff Course Number 36 covered a wide range of issues, including the developmental disparities between the global North and South which officers of the defence forces must always be alive to, and the security implication thereof.
President Mnangagwa extended appreciation to friendly countries for hosting the students during their study tours and gave special commendation to the People’s Republic of China, for continuing to render technical assistance to the Zimbabwe Staff College through the secondment of training staff.

“I am aware that the Course also embarked on a two-week External Study Tour of Angola, Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique and Namibia. Such visits are invaluable and help broaden the graduands’ comprehension and conceptualisation of defence and security from a bilateral and multilateral perspective,” he said.

He added that the track record and culture of hard work, vigilance, zeal, commitment and professionalism as well as collective patriotic and Pan-African spirit must be continuously entrenched across all security related training institutions.

President Mnangagwa praised the content of training and development programmes at the Zimbabwe Staff College, and said the education programmes being offered by the higher military training institution dovetailed with the Heritage Based Education 5.0 model being implemented by the Government.

“It is commendable, therefore, that the Staff College which is an associate member of the Zimbabwe National Defence University has adapted the course modules in line with the ongoing focus on research, innovation, science and technology development.

“This has equipped officers with the requisite capacity to respond to a wide range of traditional and non-traditional security threats,” he said.

He heaped praises on the Zimbabwe Defence Forces for remaining the epitome of the resistance to the neo-colonial onslaught and machinations by erstwhile detractors and former colonisers.

The graduating officers of the Joint Command and Staff Course Number 36 started the programme in January this year.

New Ziana